Cigarette dispensing container



Jan. 15, 1952 E. B. 'DUELL ETAL 2,582,821

CIGARETTE DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed June 28, 1946 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1' IN V EN TORS CH/IRLES H. DUELL BY 50/771 5 DUfLL ATTORNEY E. B. DUELL ET AL CIGARETTE DISPENSING CONTAINER Jan. 15, 1952 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed June 28, 1946 II II I! I! II II II 5 M f w #5 mw Z W m Patented Jan. 15, 1952 CIGARETTE DISPENSING CQNTAINER;

Edith B.v Duel andf es. D e t. D tr it. wh-i saidflhar s l wlla sia e o ai Application June-.28, 1946; SerialzNo; 680,018.

11am I 211 -4112) This: nyentlon r lates o mpmvements n the ndo er ong ities-r cas s-. 5 Qt.- e s ne-type. deb t t ts; pr ncipa dries provide; a; new: a mproved; conta n r;- ar i lar ada te h ar naed hat: hev ci arett s. e dispensed from the; nt rior=- o h co ai er 1 at; M

by. tiltin the; c nt ne and id n h cover hereafi o n pened po o the mannehi casea.

Another important object: 015, the; present; in-- vention iszto-prpvide acigarette case; havingdispensin features. associatedwitn each, of; its ends in. orden that: theuser may dispense a cigarette from. the: caiiea regardless: of which of; its ends. he happens. to: be. holding.

Aiurtherobjectis to insureposi-tive dispensing action. and to: prevent damage. tov the cigarettes; either by the action of the dispensing meansor otherwise, by insuring the proper positioning of cigarettes within the case at; all: times. and;- as a part: of; this. object. it. is; further desired; to. disclose novelmeans to provide for: such. correct: positioning of: thecigarettes;

The alcovev and other objects; of; they invention, such as. to; provide a. cigarette; dispensingcontainer; of: neat: and attractive. appearance, extremesimplicity and capableioi beingz constructed in quantity; production of? plastics; glass; wood; metal or any other suitable. or desired material at ai -comparatively 10wcostwill appear more fully from the following detailed description ofrepresentative types of cases embodying: the. invention and illustrated in the. accompanying drawings wherein Fig; 1: isa'plan viewof afull-size cigarettecase; Fig; 2 isa sectional side. view: taken along the 1ine2 2 of-Eig-. 1;=

Fig. 3 is asectional side view-similar: to that of Fig. 2' except that the; cover" of' the case has been shown in one ofitsopened positions;

Fig. 4 is a sectional end view taken along the 1 line 4 --.4 of Fig. 1;;

Bis-. is a sesfii nal; si e, V e how n how; he i ve t m ym i i a halfrsize case; Elie is per pective. view. Q f pm ifii d t or 3 111 i e. ase. with. h o er here f; Partially opened;

beincorporatecluna f w enr nt iv it pes-of Fig-. 7 a. sectional view taken along the line i -.71 of; 6.hut; with the cover of the case in os d positiq i Fig 8. is,a.,sec tional view similar to Fig. '7 but showing the covereot the case opened as inl 'ig. 6;

Eig. 9.,is. a sectional View similar. to, .Eigr '7, but showing cer tain modifications in the construction;

Fig. v 10.isv aplan view. of a. difierent type of case embodying the invention, a portion of, the cover of this case being, brolgen away and Fig; ll is a figtional viewofthis case being takenalong theline I i-1U, qt Eig. 1Q.

Thetype 'of cigarette case shown in Figs, 1 to 4;; of the. drawings has been. designed to hold a full ordinarypapkage of, oigarettesand has thereio-reheen referred to, as; aiull-size ca.-. It has a bottom, Ll, sides. 12, and; end portions. L3, preferably moulded. in one piece of any suitableplas tic, though, of course, theinaterial of construction. may be. varied as, desired. Each. end of por tion l3 extendsiupwardly in asmooth curvefrom theibottom to; appr oximately-one-halfa of. the side depth of the case. A cover; Misiormed with depending end sections. Li which arecurved tocorrespondto the curvature of the endportions. i3 so that continuous: smoothly.- rounded. ends are presented when the cover. is in closed position. Normal movement of; thercover7 for. dispensing is sliding, thecover beingprovidedfor this purpose with; a, groove, formed by. turning its, side, edges L6 downwardly and inwaijdly. to engage a tongue L'l which comprises part of theupper edge of each side, I l, Theextent of this; sliding. movement of the-coverin either; direction is. defined and limited by, stops.- I 8; consisting 0t srnall projections extending inwardlg from: thesides. ofthe case and n itie di. so t e ga e h depending d sections; {5 of; the cover. I10 hold the cover in closed: position, a friction latch 42,. consisting of a small projection extending downwardly oneach off; thee-ndsections I5 is provided, theselatches ens-aginga small socket 43.fo rmed in eachof the end; portions he cas In loading h Sfi hfi EY: is, liemoveii by pressin nw dl on t e: si es o t e e engagethe tongnes If! from the grooves of the cover, this operation being made possible by limiting the eirterit of engagement between the tongues and, grooves to. an amount easily, within h herent flex f. he si e i m s in seq i n. t ough... i firmed. ad: Jacket-and naisl' l' ach. and i h a b providing transverse barriers l9 projecting inwardly from the bottom and spaced from each end portion 1-3 a, distance suifioient to form a trough which can contain but one cigarette. In height the barriers !9 are each dimensioned so as not to present too great an obstruction to the passage of any cigarette from the main body of the case into the dispensing sections thereof, but at the same time these barriers must project above the bottom surface of the case a sufiicient distance so that the space remaining between the top 2a? of a barrier and the lower edge 2! of a depending end section of the cover, when the cover is in open position, is less than the normal diamet r of a cigarette.

Since the length of a full size case of the type shown is considerably greater than the length of any normal cigarette for which the case could be designed, the case has been divided into two compartments by the provision of a centrally located stationary rib 22 extending inwardly from the bottom which, when the cover is in closed position, lies opposite a second rib 23 formed as part of the cover l4 so that the distance between ribs is less than the average diameter of a cigarette. The second rib 23 moves with the cover so that in either open position of the cover the two ribs lie in staggered relationship and the distance between them increases, as shown in Fig. 3, so that a cigarette may roll freely from one compartment of the case to another.

Assuming that this case has been filled with a supply of cigarettes, the manner in which it operates may be described as follows: If the case is full to its capacity, a cigarette will normally be positioned. in each of the dispensing troughs in the manner shown by the cigarettes 40 and i! adjacent the left and right hand ends of the case, respectively, and if there is less than a full supply in the case, the positioning of a cigarette in the dispensing trough to be uncovered can be insured by tilting that end of the case down so as to cause a cigarette to roll over the barrier l9 and into the dispensing trough. To dispense the cigarette then and taking, for example, the cigarette 4| at the right hand end of the case, it is merely necessary to slide the cover to the left until further movement is prevented by the stops l8, using a slight additional force initially to disengage the friction latch 42 of the cover from the socket 43 on the end portion of the case. With the cover opened, the cigarette 4! can be removed from the dispensing trough in any way convenient to the user of the case. During this removal, no other cigarette but the cigarette 4i being dispensed can pass from the main body of the case into the uncovered dispensing trough because, as previously mentioned, such passage is prevented by the restricted distance between the lower edge 2! of the depending end section of the cover and the top surface 20 of the barrier l9. Likewise if before the cover is opened more than one cigarette were located in the dispensing section of the case, such as were a second cigarette positioned above the cigarette M in Fig. 2, this second cigarette would be removed from the dispensing section and pushed back into the main part of the case by the depending end of the cover as the latter is slid back to open position.

Precisely the same dispensing action can be obtained from the other end of the case so that regardless of which end of the case is held away from the hand of the user, a single cigarette can be removed from the case each time the cover is slid back. However, it can readily be appreciated that this dispensing action cannot be positive in operation unless the cigarettes within the case are at all times positioned in substantial parallelism to the ends or dispensing troughs of the case; and the term substantial parallelism is used to denote all positions where the length of the cigarette lies principally cross-wise of the case as distinguished from length-Wise thereof. With some of the modified forms of' the invention which will be described later in this specification, correct positioning of the cigarettes for satisfactory dispensing action is insured from the over-all dimensioningof the case itself by making the case with a shorter length than width, but in the full size'flat type case, this is not possible. The length must be greater than the width and therefore the centrally located stationary rib 22, coupled with the second rib 23 of the cover, is provided to prevent any cigarette from occupying a position length-wise of the case and to maintain all cigarettes in substantial parallelism with the dispensing troughs of the case. If a cigarette could assume a length-wise position, that cigarette could be crushed and destroyed by the opening of the cover or the dispensing action could be jammed by the cigarette being caught between the depending end section l5 of the cover and other cigarettes in the case or squeezed between the lower edge 2| of the end of the cover and the top surface of the barrier l9. Another objectionable feature that would accompany such length-wise positioning of cigarettes is that in this position a cigarette would not be free to roll into the dispensing section and to correct this and dispense a cigarette, the user would have to resort to much jiggling and shaking of the case in order to correct the position of the cigarettes; thereby damaging them and loosening the tobacco'in the process.

The function of aligning the cigarettes in substantial parallelism with the dispensing sections of the case is performed by the stationary and movable ribs 22 and 23 in both a preventative and corrective manner, i. e., the ribs 22 and 23 divide the case into two compartments, each of a length sufliciently less than the length of a cigarette so that it will be impossible for any between compartments, but when the cover of the case is moved in either direction to one of its opened positions, the rib 23 lies in a staggered relationship to the stationary rib 22 (see Fig. 3), forming an opening between the compartments slightly wider than the diameter of a cigarette and parallel to the dispensing sections so that any cigarette passing from one compartment to the other must necessarily lie in the correct par-- allel position while passing; and if not in such position, the two ribs will cause that cigarette to move to a parallel position. In other words, these two ribs may be said to prevent such length-wise positioning of the cigarettes as would interfere with the operation of the dispensing means or result in damage to the cigarettes, and to aid in correcting any lesser degree of lengthwise positioning.

Fig. 5 illustrates the construction of a case similar in practically all respects to the case shown in Figs. 1. to 4 and. previously described,

and. because of this similarity onlythe sectional view of'this casein Fig: 5 hasbeen included in the drawings. The principal difference between the. two cases lies in the fact that thecase of Fig. 5 is smaller; being whatmaybe: termed a hal'f silze case in contrast to thefull sizetype. Since, by reason of its size, the length of this case is sufficiently less than the length of a cigarette so that. there isnochance for misposiitioning of cigarettes within thescase, the means f rst described for dividing the case into compartments'are notincluded.

Otherwise, the twocases are identical and the construction of the half-sizecase consist's'of a one piece container" having a bottom sides 25; and end portions 21-; H/EOD'GI" cover 2-8 having depending end sections" and grooves 29 Slid ably engaging tongues 39 011 the upper edge-of the sides 26; and with sliding movement: of the cover limited in both directions by stops 3|. Barriers 32' extend inwardly from the bottom 25 to' form dispensing troughs adj acent eachof the ends of" the" case and the same considerations as have been previously explained pertain to the" dimensioning of these barriers and the relationship between their dimensioning: and that of" the depending end sections 33 of the cover. A: small bead 34 is formed as partof each of the end portions 2? andproj'ects above the upper edge of the end portions 21 so as to contact the lower edgeof' each endsection of the cover and act as latches. to. hold the cover in closed position. The loading of" this case; its operation and the functioning: of: the; dispensing, means have all been previously discussedin thedescrip- I tion of thefullsizecase.

The forms of this invention heretofore described. and illustrated by'Fi'gs. 1 to 5 of themvention are thought to be preferable; mainly because of the fact that these cases incorporate the feature of dispensing a single cigarette at a time from either end of the case. Besides ofier inga great convenience to the" user, this feature also enables thedesign ofythe caseto be simplified and. improved because; nothing need be included in the design to, enable one to dis.- tinguish the dispensing end of the case.

However, in order to more fully develop: the invention and to disclose other types of dispensing means so that the invention may be applied to cigarette cases of all types, some additional modifications have been shown in Figs. 6 to 11 of the drawings. The case shown in Figs. 6 to 8, and modified in certain respects in Fig. 9, is provided with a bottom 45, side walls 46, a rear wall 41 and a front wall 48. Each of the side walls is provided along its top edge with a protruding rib or tongue 49, and a cover 50, having a depending flange or groove 5| along each of its side edges, is slidably mounted on the case by the engagement of these tongues and grooves. In this modification of the invention, a dispensing trough or section consists of a semi-cylindrical shaped depression 52 formed in the bottom 45 of the case adjacent the front wall 48 thereof, this depression extending across the entire width of the case and being adapted to contain a single cigarette such as is shown by the cigarette 53 in Fig. 8. The cover 53 has a front wall 54 which depends downwardly and cooperates with the direction iftheatopedgei-55, of -thec front wall 48 of the: case and. the lower edge: 56. of the front wall of the cover are: tapered. or chamfered. in the manner? depicted inthe cross-sectional views Adjacent-the rear edge of the cover 53, a pair of small indentations or inwardly projecting beads- 51 and '53 are provided, the head 58 engaging: the upper-edgeof the rear Wall 4! of the case and serving as:a frictionlatch to hold the cover in closed position, while the head, 5'! serves as a step to: limitthe sliding opening movement of the cover to the position shown in Fig. 8 of thedrawings: where the cover is shown opened sufiiciently to permit the removal or dispensing of" a single cigarette 5.3. In other words, this opening mcvement'of the cover, as was the case with the previously described embodiments of the invention, ismerely-sufiicient to expose the dispensin section of" the case, and the depending front: wall 45. of the cover extends downwardl'y a sufficientdistance so that when in open position the distance'between the lower edge 55 ofthe-wall and: the bottom surface 45 of the case is Iessthan the normal diameter of a cigarette, thereby eiiectively closing off the dispensing section of the case from the main body thereof when the cover is opened and causing any cigarettes to be removed from the dispensing end of the case except the one contained in the dispensingtroughz Consequently; the dispensing action of this form of the invention is the. same-- in: principle as with previously describedforms; However, irrd'efining -thedispensing section by the depression: 52 instead of'bw the barrier [9, it obviously becomes scmewhateasier to move a cigarette to dispensing position in this type of case than in the other;

Beingafull size type of case, parallel positioning meansis included for-best operation and takes the-form-of a transverse stationary rib or barrier 59; formed inthebottomof the case midway between the-frontand rear walls thereof, and a depending rib- 60 provided on the cover and also extending transversely. across the box. Formed in conjunction with the rib Gil-is a depression 6| extending partially across thebox to act as a finger gripto enable -tlieuser to more readily slide the cover in its opening and closing movements. Since this case dispenses from one end only, all movements of cigarettes within the case will be toward the dispensing end and therefore the rib has been located toward the dispensing end of .7 the case so that a cominunicating passage between the compartments of the case will be presented at all times when the cover is in closed position, and this passage will be blocked by the rib 60 and barrier 59 only when the cover is opened. This may be clearly seen from a com parison of Figs. 7 and 8. Movement of cigarettes to the dispensing section is further facilitated by forming the barrier 59 with a sloping surface 62 in the direction of movement and a vertical or straight surface 63 which acts to restrict movement away from the dispensing section of the case.

This feature is not present in the type of case shown sectionally in Fig. 9 where the stationary rib is shaped as a semi-cylindrical transverse indentation 64 in the bottoin of the case which, in combination with a transverse raised portion 55 of the cover, divides the case into compartments. Except for this difference, the case of Fig. 9 is identical to the case of Figs. 6 to 8 and hence corresponding reference characters have been used for all other parts. The cigarettes are free to roll between these compartments when the cover is closed, but again, when the cover is opened, the communicating passage between the compartments of the case is restricted in area.

The last representative embodiment, of the invention, shown in Figs. 10 and 11 of the drawings, illustrates a compact type of case having a greater depth than any type previously described, it being preferably dimensioned so as to be capable of holding a full package of twenty cigarettes. In this case, having a bottom 66 and sides 61, which are also provided with ribs or tongues 68, both the ends 69 are of equal height. A cover 10, having grooves to engage the tongues 68 of the sides, is thus slidably mounted on the case and a stop H limits opening movement of the cover. The dispensing means consist of a barrier 12 similar to that used in the types of cases illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, and a rib or rake 73 which projects inwardly of the cover a distance sufiicient to permit the rake to remove all cigarettes from the dispensing section except a cigarette 14 positioned in the dispensing pocket or trough of the case, and suificient to close off, in cooperation with the barrier 12, the dispensing section from the main body of the case. Since the length of this case is less than the width thereof, no means need be provided to maintain cigarettes in substantial parallelism to the dispensing section, and the manner of operation of the case is identical to any of the other cases as previously described.

As has been mentioned before in this specification, some conception of the flexibility of the invention and the 'manner in which it can be accommodated to various types and styles of cases can be obtained from the cases represented and described herein. However, countless other modifications can be made utilizing the dispensing action of the invention, together with the means for maintaining alignment of the cigarettes, in instances where the design and dimensioning of the case makes the inclusion of this latter means advisable as can be determined from the outline and. examples of satisfactory practice of the invention contained herein.

This application is a continuation in part of our co-pending application, Serial No. 611,970,

filed August 22, 1945, and entitled Cigarette Dispensing Container," which has become abandoned.

We claim:

In a cigarette container constructed to hold a plurality of cigarettes in superimposed layers and having a cover mounted thereon for sliding movement from a closed to an open position, a dispensing section adjacent one end of said container and means to limit sliding movement of said cover to an amount sufiicient to expose said dispensing section, means for preventing any cigarette within said container from attaining a position substantially perpendicular to the dispensing section thereof comprising a stationary rib, extending transversely of said container and disposed substantially parallel to said dispensing section and spaced therefrom a distance substantially less than the normal length of a cigarette, and a movable rib fixedly carried by said cover and extending parallel to said stationary rib, said movable rib being in vertical alignment with and separated from said stationary rib when said cover is in closed position by a vertical distance less than the normal diameter of a cigarette, a passage formed between said ribs upon sliding movement of said cover to its open position, the width of said passage being greater than the normal diameter of a cigarette.

I EDITH B. DUELL.

CHARLES H. DUELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,047,718 Stewart Dec. 17, 1912 1,582,991 Lloyd May 4, 1926 1,756,900 Kondysar Apr. 29, 1930 2,063,556 O'Brien Dec. 8, 1936 2,353,818 Duell July 18, 1944 2,378,003 Duell June 12, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 452,485 Great Britain Aug. 24, 1936 457,854 Great Britain Dec. 4, 1936 

